Initiation
by Flamewind
Summary: A Persian must complete one task to get into a group of his kind called the Alley Cats. /Oneshot/


Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Merry Christmas, Neko-san! -

**Initiation**

A lithe shape darted across the sidewalk, slipping past humans and Pokemon alike in his flight. A tall man ran after him, wielding a butcher's knife and screeching nonsense, gaining queer looks from those he passed. Turning into an alley, his quarry was gone with a feline snicker.

"_You got it!" _A voice purred with delight as the Persian dropped the fish he'd been carrying in his mouth. Coming from the shadows was another of the cat Pokemon, her tail held high as she approached. _"Uhh… I mean… you should be taking that to Jarred." _Her tone turned from overjoyed to flat and dull, and with one swift movement, she jumped onto the top of one trashcan, and then up to a flat-topped house. The male sighed after her and followed after he scooped his catch back up.

Numerous eyes turned as he entered with the sound of scrapping claws against brick. A small cluster of the Persian felines lounged around, lying at ease and basking in the glow of the sun. _"Never could make a subtle entrance, could you Alex?" _One asked, a casual smirk upon his features. He appeared to be the oldest of the felines there, the way his fur was dull and had yellowed some. There were no signs of scarring on him though.

It was this Persian that he approached and set the fish down in front of, _"No sir." _Alex replied, _"I've got to work on that." _

"_Indeed. So, this is all you managed to get?" _The old Persian extended one claw and punctured the little fish in the middle of its side. _"Tough meat, and it's scrawny. You got the one fish the butcher didn't want!"_

As his voice rose in volume, Alex had shrunk down to his haunches and sported a guilty expression. _"But, he did chase after me… Jarred, please…"_

"…_That means nothing! He'd chase after you even if you stole a bone!" _Jarred growled, _"If this is the best you can do, it'd be a shame to call you an Alley Cat. Out of my sight."_

"_But sir-"_

"_Get out!" _A female hissed, the fur on the back of her neck raised.

"_Stop it! Jarred, one last chance." _A pleading tone entered Alex's voice at that point, _"I'll prove myself to you, I promise I will!"_

"_One last chance you ask for." _Jarred's smirk returned, _"One last chance. I think I can handle it. Alex, you're new task is to… go into the city and look around until you find one of those dogs… called Growlithe, I believe. You'll find one; they're everywhere, just look for orange pelts striped with black, they're hard to miss. Well… go up to this Growlithe, and steal his collar and bring it back to me. You have three days to accomplish this. Understood?"_

Alex nodded, _"Understood sir."_

"_Good. Be off with you, then."_

_

* * *

Growlithe, Growlithe, where is a Growlithe when you need one? _Thought Alex furiously. The Persian sat in the shadows of another alley, his eyes scanning the mass of humans and Pokemon walking before him. Many were wearing red and green, the colors of the Christmas ritual. 

At that time, Persian didn't know much about Christmas, or why it happened. It confused them, why once a year people became so friendly and giving. Alex didn't know this, but it was the day before the actual Christmas day.

The colors, the sights, the sounds, it all blurred together in the uneventful time he spent standing in that alley, waiting for a sign of a Growlithe. He impatiently waited for a few hours, before one finally showed up.

He was just a small puppy, looking like he was barely five months old. His black and orange fur was slick and shimmered with good health. But his silky fur was not what Alex was looking at; it was the collar around his neck, the black band with a golden charm hanging from it.

Alex slunk out of the alley and followed him and his human trainer through the crowd, attempting to look innocent as he did so. They took him way away from Jarred and the other Alley Cats, to a more upscale part of town where there weren't as many shops-and in turn; shoppers-and houses were there in their stead. Each was colored a blinding white, that Alex couldn't look at directly.

It was at one of these dazzling houses that the human stopped and looked down at her puppy, "Would you like to stay outside a little bit longer?" Alex breathed a sigh of relief when the Growlithe barked and nodded frantically. His trainer laughed, "Have fun, don't go far!"

_How unsafe. _Alex thought when she smiled and fluffed the puppy's fur before opening the door to her blinding house and entered. The small flap in the middle of the door slapped awkwardly as it closed. _Doesn't that human know about the thieves? …No matter. I am one too, after all._

He sighed and approached the puppy, which noticed the cat for the first time. _"Hi!" _He exclaimed, tail wagging happily, _"Who're you? What're you doing here?"_

"_I'm… well…" _Alex stuttered, he hadn't expected this sort of greeting. _"I'm Alex… and-"_

"_Do you want to play?" _The Growlithe cut him off, looking very excited. He barked once and turned around, running behind the side of his house. A minute later, the puppy returned with a small ball clamped in his jaws. He spat it out at Alex's feet, where he looked down at it with distaste.

_Hopefully we don't have to do this too long… _He thought as he patted the ball with one paw, sending it bouncing down the sidewalk. The Growlithe was off like a flash, running off and catching the ball in his mouth again. Returning to Alex's side with his back arched proudly, he dropped it again before the Persian.

A couple more times like this, and the Growlithe finally got bored. _"Hey, do you know of any games we could play?" _He asked as he batted the ball to where it wouldn't get in the way.

"_Uh… yeah, we could play Tumble." _The Persian replied blankly, even though he saw an opportunity to get the puppy's collar.

"_Wazzat?"_

"_Well, basically we jump on each other and roll around." _Alex said, and soon he had a puppy on his back, attempting a fearsome growl and only managing a small sound. He chuckled and rolled, while his excited friend continued the roll, and soon they were tumbling around, Alex trying to dislodge the puppy, and the Growlithe hanging on and giggling.

Alex was breathing heavily when the Growlithe tired and released him from his grip. He turned around, and finally saw the opening he needed. Swiping at the puppy's collar in a seemingly playful way, he shredded part of it, and the rest fell from his neck. The Persian quickly snapped it up, and would have been on his way if it weren't for the puppy's reaction.

The Growlithe looked down at the ground where his collar had landed, where a few shredded tatters of the collar were still, and the up at Alex. He stayed in that position for a second, before he closed his eyes and-

-_Bawled._ The sound was loud, and startling. _"M-m-my collar!" _He cried, _"No, don't take it! My collar…"_

The door to the house that his human had disappeared in crashed open. The girl there took one look at Alex and her puppy, and an angry glare crossed her face. Alex knew that he should bolt, before the human got there. The collar in his mouth suddenly seemed to weigh too much.

He also knew that he would never have the conscious to take the collar and flee. So he did the only thing he could, approached the puppy and dropped the collar at his feet, with a whispered apology, before turning and dashing away, up over a hill, and finally was gone from view.

* * *

Thoughts of yesterday were still heavy in Alex's mind. He'd very well failed the task that Jarred had given him, but he still had two more days before he would have to return. The Persian hoped that he could just find another Growlithe and steal its collar, but the streets were suddenly very empty. And even if he did find another of the puppy Pokemon, he knew he wouldn't have the heart to accomplish the task. 

It was Christmas day.

Alex slinked over to the butcher's shop, even though it was closed. He pressed his nose against the glass, looking longingly at the dried meats still hanging where they always were, before the window. The familiar tinkle of the front door startled him, and he was about to run at the sight of the butcher.

The man had just been closing down his shop for the weekend, putting his meats into the freezer area, and throwing out what would go bad, or be close to going bad, by the time he got back. He was a little bit surprised to see one of the town's Persian standing there, making moon eyes at the meat inside. It was cold, and the Persian shouldn't be out. Not today, on Christmas.

"Hey now, what are you doing?" The butcher asked, and the tense-looking Pokemon dropped his shoulders a bit and meowed. "Don't you have somewhere to be?" Another meow, and a shake of the head.

Puzzled, the butcher opened the door again and motioned inside, "Come in, then." He sighed. The cat didn't need to be told twice, he was in like a flash.

The human walked by him on the way to the freezer area, where he recovered a small slice of beef. When he presented it to the Persian, pointed to the door, and said, "Merry Christmas cat, now go and find a warm place to curl up in." He saw, to his satisfaction, an amazed and overjoyed glitter in the feline's eyes.

Alex daintily took the offered meat in his mouth, and mewed his thanks past it, as he obediently slinked out of the shop when the door was opened for him. Settling in an alley, he quickly dispatched of the meal as he puzzled over the butcher's actions. _Christmas? _The Persian asked himself, _The Christmas ritual! Today's that day… when humans give gifts to each other. _

Coming to that conclusion, he understood. Why nobody was on the streets, why the butcher had actually parted with a slice of meat without screaming and attempting to get it back. Christmas.

His thoughts drifted back to the Growlithe, and the episode that had happened yesterday. With nothing better to do, why not visit him and apologize?

* * *

Alex sniffed the ground around one house door and nodded in satisfaction at finding the right place. He looked at the door flap there, and sighed heavily as he squeezed through it. The house he was in was warm and cozy, the air thick with the powerful smell of ginger. 

Right in the next room was the human girl and the Growlithe, with two other humans that he didn't recognize. They were grouped around a pine tree erected in the center of the room, with bright packages stacked under it. One of those packages was already in the girl's lap, and she appeared to be excited. And the puppy by her side, as Alex saw, already had another collar around his neck, this time a light blue that didn't match very well.

Swallowing his pride, Alex walked forward and meowed to get the assembly's attention. The Growlithe was the first to react to the intrusion of a Persian into their home, and barked as he stumbled towards him. _"Hey, you're that Persian!" _He said, in a tone that made Alex wonder if he was still upset about yesterday, or if he was still happy to see the feline that had agreed to play with him.

"_Yeah… look, uhh… I'm sorry about that."_

"_It's okay!" _Alex looked up at the puppy hopefully, _"But why'd you do it?"_

The Persian swallowed, it was time to tell the truth, _"Well, you see… I needed your collar, because… you see, there's this group of elite Persian called the Alley Cats, and I wanted to join them. So the leader gave me a task, and that was to find a Growlithe and steal its collar."_

He paused and waited for the reaction. _"Ooooh…" _The puppy finally said, _"Why didn't you say so before? Wait here!"_

Alex watched as the Growlithe turned around and bounded past his trainer and the other two humans, who were staring, and into another room. He waited patiently, and a couple minutes later the Growlithe returned, the shredded collar in his mouth. The puppy dropped it at Alex's feet, and said, _"Merry Christmas!"_

Stunned wasn't the right word for Alex's feeling when the collar was pawed towards him. _"Thank you. Thanks so much Growl-"_

"_Flare." _The puppy corrected.

"_-Flare."_

The Persian nodded and took the collar in his mouth, smiling happily at Flare through it. With one last glance at the warm, cozy house, Alex sighed once and slinked through the door flap, heading back to where Jarred and the Alley Cats were waiting.


End file.
